


Celebrity Skin

by ShelledWalnut



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Actor - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Hollywood, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Casting Director, Complete, F/F, F/M, First Time, Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-23
Updated: 2011-10-23
Packaged: 2017-10-24 21:12:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/267936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShelledWalnut/pseuds/ShelledWalnut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Erik Lehnsherr does not do any favors out of the goodness of his heart. There's no such thing as a free lunch, especially in Hollywood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Celebrity Skin

**Author's Note:**

> This is a self-indulgent mini-fill for this [prompt](http://1stclass-kink.livejournal.com/7315.html?thread=12063123#t12063123):
> 
> "Charles is a famous Hollywood actor. He's gay, but his agent convinces him he needs to look straight for the media so that people will like him. Raven is in the same boat, so they act as each other's beard. It works out just fine for a while, but then Raven is nominated for an Oscar and realizes that people like her for more than just her sex appeal. Newly secure in herself, she 'dumps' Charles and takes her girlfriend to the Oscars.
> 
> "Charles, who is also nominated, doesn't understand and is quite hurt that Raven is just going to ditch him. His agent (Shaw?) offers to set him up with a new beard, but Charles turns him down. He does need a date, though, so he offers Erik, his chauffeur/doorman/lawyer/gardener/PA/whatever, a substantial bonus to accompany him and stop him from looking like a pathetic loser. Erik is the perfect date and Charles falls for him, hard. Luckily, Erik has been hoping to get into Charles's pants for ages."

Erik Lehnsherr had been waiting for this call for an hour and a half. He picked up his mobile, verified the caller ID and tried to sound like he just woke up.

“Charles, I suppose congratulations are in order?”

“Erik, yes. Thank you,” he replied, confirming his belief that Charles Xavier will get the nomination for best male performance in this year’s Academy Awards. Ha! Fincher now owed him a thousand bucks.

He had been awake since five in the morning, anticipating the announcement of the nominees by Raven Darkholme and Andrew Garfield.

He was sure Charles and Raven will both be nominated for their performances – Charles for his role as a young man whose love for a woman above his social class ended in a tragedy brought about by a child’s lies and Raven for her portrayal of a girl who had to singlehandedly save her family and their home from the consequences of her father’s drug addiction.

What Erik did not expect was Raven’s announcement that she was not Charles’s girlfriend, as the public had been led to believe for the last five years, but was instead the life partner of Emma Frost, a Victoria’s Secret model who was part of the tight-knit Xavier-Darkholme circle of friends. Since he was part of that circle, Erik knew Charles and Raven’s relationship was strictly platonic; they were more like siblings than lovers.

However, Charles and Raven were both committed to maintaining their fictional love affair since Hollywood was mainly comprised of prudes and hypocrites. Most of the top level executives of the film industry giants were still ultra-conservative (read: homophobic).

When Raven tearfully thanked everyone during the press conference after the announcement of nominees, she called Emma “the love of my life” and just like that, Charles simultaneously became the most eligible bachelor in Hollywood and the most pathetic dumpee.

“Well, we should celebrate! You are totally buying, my friend,” he told Charles as he rose from his bed. He needed coffee now; he had a meeting in an hour.

“Of course, Erik,” Charles replied, sounding forlorn.

“What’s with that tone? Is this Charles Xavier, Academy award nominee?” he shouted in the general direction of his mobile which was on hands-free mode as he began to fill up the espresso machine with water.

“Yes…”

“Just say it, Charles. No need for pussy-footing. I know what Raven did. Now, what does Shaw want to do for damage control? What does he want _you_ to do?” Concern crept in his tone even though he wanted to sound impatient.

He really should have coffee first before saying more than two words after waking up. He had many choice words about Charles’s agent which he was used to sharing with everyone except Charles who had a tendency to defend Shaw.

“He wants me to borrow Angel for Oscar night, as my date,” blurted Charles. Erik heard the quotation marks in “borrowed.” Angel was supposed to be his beard, no quotation marks.

“She will kill both of us for even suggesting that she can be borrowed,” he said. “Besides, I don’t think she’s available. She’s dating Armando now,” continued Erik, referring to their common friend, a cinematographer who was also nominated. “If you had time for us common people in the last couple of months, you’d already know this.”

“Angel and Armando? That’s delightful news!” exclaimed Charles in his usual cheerful voice. This was however followed shortly by a sigh. “If Angel is not free… Oh dear, I’d have to ask Moira.” This time, Erik was sure that Charles was upset and pouting.

He’d be upset, too, if he had to request a favor from one of his exes before he came out of the closet. Moira was the woman Charles was dating when he realized he was gay. Their break-up was ugly.

“Or you can man up and admit why you don’t have a lady on your arm,” suggested Erik. He was sure that he did not stutter when he said that. But his heart was palpitating so hard that he could hear each beat.

“Oh, I am willing to _man up_ but I must do it in style. This means that I must have someone pretty on my arm,” retorted Charles. “Who would you recommend?”

Erik was not capable of being objective about this. Sure, he was a casting director and he could easily come up with a list of men who can pose as Charles's boyfriend and help do damage control. But would it be unprofessional if the first name on the list were his?

He took a sip of coffee before answering.

“Remember that Jean Paul Gaultier show we attended two years ago?” Erik asked, referring to his one-time gig as a runway model for women’s lingerie. He wore a red corset, a red wig, fishnet stockings and fuck-me patent leather stilettos. Charles told him that he gave Dita Von Teese a run for her money. It was their favorite Paris fashion week memory.

“If you think I won’t take you up on your offer, then you are mistaken,” warned Charles.

“Why would I even bring it up if I’m not serious about this? I’m still pretty, you know,” he snapped.

“And how much would this cost me, hmmn? I doubt that you’ll do it out of the goodness of your heart,” said Charles, sounding suspicious.

“I never claimed to have a heart of gold, Xavier,” replied Erik dryly even though he was feeling so smug for bagging a date with Charles, and to the Oscars, no less. "But maybe I'm trying to be _nice_ to you."

“Now you’re the one who’s fuckin’ around,” accused Charles in his best Logan voice.

“Okay, okay... You must say no to Danny about 'Trance.' I want to cast you for Fincher’s new project. And before you protest and say that you first need to read the script, you should know that Tom Hardy and Jesse Eisenberg already said yes. Plus, this is my first time to produce a movie,” said Erik in his best _this-is-too-logical-and-reasonable-I-couldn’t-fathom-why-the-rest-of-the-world-does-not-get-it_ tone.

“Well, if you put it that way…” Charles sounded as if he were backed into a corner and he didn't like it.

“I need more caffeine before I can withstand this much hesitation,” said Erik as he started to pour coffee in another cup. “That’s my offer.” He hoped he seemed like he would take Charles’s rejection light-heartedly.

“Fine! It’s a yes.”

“Great! I’ll send you the script later,” he told Charles.

“There’s no need. I’m actually on my way to your flat, Erik.”

“Alright. I’ll prepare breakfast.” He would just cancel that meeting. It was the first time he’d see Charles in more than a month.

“I forgot to tell you that I also have a condition for saying yes.”

Erik almost dropped the teapot when he heard Charles speak from across the kitchen. “Fuck, Charles! Don’t ever sneak up on me!”

“Stop trying to change the topic. Did you hear what I said?” Charles was walking toward him.

“Yes.” Erik set the teapot down. Charles’s intense blue gaze pinned him to the kitchen counter. “What’s the condition, Charles?”

“I won’t share you, before or after the date. That means no Azazels or Janoses hanging about. I am done with faking it,” said Charles in an imperative voice.

“Did you know that I waited five years for you to say that?” asked Erik as he wrapped his arms around Charles’s waist.

“Five years? Then we shouldn’t waste any second longer,” murmured Charles before planting his red, lush mouth on Erik’s hungry one.

 

\- End -

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction based on “X-Men: First Class" and all its characters - even those with names of real persons -- are fictional. It contains references to James McAvoy's roles in "Atonement" and "Trance" and Jennifer Lawrence's role in "Winter's Bone."
> 
> The title is a song by Hole.
> 
> This was written for non-commercial purposes and no profit was generated from it. No copyright infringement was intended.
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> If you wish to comment anonymously or at LiveJournal, you may do so [here](http://1stclass-kink.livejournal.com/7315.html?thread=12106899#t12106899) at the kink meme.


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